OPEC increases Iraq’s Oil Quota

By John Lee.

OPEC has reportedly agreed to increase Iraq’s oil production to 4.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in June.

The state-controlled Iraqi News Agency (INA) quotes Iraq’s representative to OPEC, Muhammad Saadoun, as saying that oil production will then increase by 50,000 bpd each month from July to September.

He also predicted an  average oil price in excess of $100 per barrel until the third quarter of this year.

(Source: INA)

The post OPEC increases Iraq’s Oil Quota first appeared on Iraq Business News.

Iraq to Cut Oil Output, but by Less than OPEC+ Target

By John Lee.

Iraq is reportedly cutting its oil output by around 700,000 barrels per day (bpd), a third less than required under an OPEC+ supply pact.

Iraqi oil officials told Reuters that the government failed to persuade the international oil companies (IOCs) to agree to bigger reductions.

More here.

(Source: Reuters)

Jiyad: Oil Market Collapse Damages the Iraqi Economy

By Ahmed Mousa Jiyad.

Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Oil Market Collapse, Damages the Iraqi Economy and Changes Oil Geopolitics

The collapse of the global oil market is undoubtedly unprecedented in its timing, magnitude, spread and devastating impacts across the globe. A strange and unpredicted association of a few, but major, factors had contributed to the current threat, causing much uncertainty and vulnerability on national and global levels.

The revised “OPEC+” production cut agreed on 12 April prompted initial minor improvement in oil price, but there remains very many serious concerns that such reduction is much below what is needed to bring stability to and balances a saturated global oil market.

This article aims at estimating the collapse in oil market on Iraq first then on both Russia and Saudi Arabia, as they are accused for “OPEC+” failure early last March that ignited the oil price war, and assesses the geopolitical and political economy consideration that contributed to and further complicate the impasse.  The article provides a summary of two articles written and published in Arabic recently and an update on recent deliberation by “OPEC+” and G20 Energy Ministers to rescue the situation and bring some stability to global oil market under  existing threat of Coronavirus to the world biosecurity.

My two articles attempt to provide comparative assessment of the impact of the collapse with particular focus on short-term horizon, i.e., the remaining nine months of this year under different Brent oil price scenarios on Iraq, first article , while the second focuses on Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Click here to download the full report in pdf format.

Mr Jiyad is an independent development consultant, scholar and Associate with the former Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES), London. He was formerly a senior economist with the Iraq National Oil Company and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, Chief Expert for the Council of Ministers, Director at the Ministry of Trade, and International Specialist with UN organizations in Uganda, Sudan and Jordan. He is now based in Norway (Email: mou-jiya(at)online.no, Skype ID: Ahmed Mousa Jiyad). Read more of Mr Jiyad’s biography here.

Iraq could surpass Saudi Arabia in Oil Production

By Padraig O’Hannelly.

A senior oil executive has predicted that Iraq could surpass Saudi Arabia as an oil producer.

Addressing delegates at CWC‘s Iraq Petroleum conference in London, Majid Jafar (pictured), CEO of Sharjah-based Crescent Petroleum, said:

“Iraq is hugely underexplored. We at Crescent know of 300 structures just in the Western Desert that have yet to be drilled, so I for one believe that Iraq has a lot of potential, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes the largest producer in OPEC during my career.”

Crescent Petroleum has an interest in the Khor Mor field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and has signed initial contracts to develop the oil fields of Gilabat-Qumar (in Diyala), Khashim Ahmer-Injana (in Diyala), and Khudher Al-Mai [Khider al-Mai] (in Basra and Muthana).

Iraq to Follow OPEC, Reduce Oil Output

By John Lee.

Iraq’s oil ministry has said it will seek to limit oil production to 4.513 million barrels per day (bpd) for the next six months. based on the OPEC deal recently agreed.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Oil, this would be a reduction of 140,000 bpd from the reference level of 4.653 million bpd reached in October.

(Source: Ministry of Oil)

Iraq to Comply with Opec Supply Cuts

By John Lee.

Financial Times reports that Iraq will comply with OPEC-led efforts to restrict crude oil production, even as Saudi Arabia said it is striving to boost its export capacity.

It quotes Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi [Allibi, Luiebi] as saying that Iraq’s export capacity would reach 5m bpd by the end of this year, but adding that it will comply with OPEC declarations.

December output stood at 4.4 million bpd.

(Source: Financial Times)